Lund Explorer

Hannnnnnnnd Salute!

In the fields of accounting and taxation there are a few golden rules everyone one of us have to understand and accept. #1 - An education is not only needed, but in today's market is absolutely required. #2 - After college, no accounting or tax client will ever fit the mold of what you learn in the classroom. #3 - In this profession, your first job priority is to work towards helping to ensure the financial security of the client. And where money is involved, almost every client uses the words experience and trust interchangably. #4 - No matter how educated or experienced, you must be able earn the trust of your client(s), and to communicate with them at a level they will understand. I've been preparing financial statements and tax returns for just over 32 years now, and I think I can honestly say that between the two choices of education and experience, its the experience that counts.

Hey, right off let me add my congrats. Should only be three short years left. Argh!!! I wouldn't sweat the billing job thing though. From my experience, it is probably an employer who has a problem in the past. And trust me when I say that I've seen a few that should have qualified for federal disaster relief! Only thing worse than a po'd business owner is a bunch of customers who are. Most billing departments use computerized record keeping these days, and the programs are written with so many protections that once an entry is posted, they are almost impossible to void out. Not nearly as easy as the old days of hand written books. So this 12 months of prior experience is most likely a somewhat gun shy business owner. If I was going to toss out a couple of little copper coins worth of advice, I'd suggest a few possible routes at this stage in your career. First would be a job in sales. This will give you the chance to add the phrase "customer service" to your resume, and give you some time to sharpen your communication skills with a wide range of people. In the income tax business, you can and will run into clients from professionals to waitresses. Your ability to connect with all types of people will enhance your experience factor. A second choice might be through a temp service such as Accountemps. The work will be temporary during what most accountant's call the off season, but even menial tasks done well could provide you with the chance to move on to bigger and more complex work. Maybe even a part-time tax season job if school doesn't bury you. Lastly, if improving your own cash flow isn't an issue, would be to look towards volunteer work. Many community organizations could use the help, and a lot of them will have a variety of business professionals on their board of directors. That gets you just a little closer to the folks that will help to determine your success later in life. But however you spend your summer, congrats on getting through this first leg of your quest for that degree. Try to save some time to get out on the water!

Sorry to here you guys had a loss A-Jay. You and your wife have thoughts, prayers, and a big ol'hug coming from down state. I'm sure you'll miss Kodi and the things he gave you folks. And from the way the wife talked, I'll bet you guys gave him lots in return. Is Diesel the only puppy at home now?

Which Moderator are you trying to brown nose? I was trying to make the point that nobody on this forum is so much better than the rest of us, that they can move across the water without a boat. Most elitists have a much higher opinion of only themselves and aside from their mothers, have a fan base of one!

Hence the link I put up. Poor Wilson looks like a fan of that No. Carolina place......Argh! ;D

Congrats Dad! Time to ignore the bait monkey and start doing some serious shopping.... http://www.volmall.com/main_objgroup.cfm?nCategoryID=16&nObjGroupID=519&sAuxTitle=Infant%20%280%2D24M%29

Hang on, we only have to wait six more days! I'm trying my best - but it's no walk in the park. The snow the past two nights has been a little disheartening. A-Jay Sorry, that was my prediction for a little "after tax season" weather coming true. It was a little rough sitting at my desk 7 days a week while it was in the 70's - 80's. Yesterday's weather made it really easy to stay inside. But I think it is safe to say we won't need to ice shanties for a few months. ;D

I can't remember who said this, but when asked why he carried a .45 he said; "Because they don't make a .46!"

Rolo, this is just more proof that Polish folks must not bass fish. Nobody, and I mean NO body would ever sing "She's too fat for me!" ;D

Good Job.... I predict a long career of bassin' thumb!

Hang on, we only have to wait six more days!

This would probably be another good time to express a very heartfelt thank you to Glenn, Kerri, and all the mods for providing us with an open forum to discuss the subject matter we ALL enjoy. Imagine how boring this place would be if the voices we heard from came from the same narrow mindset. I don't think it would be very much fun to only converse with fishermen that only fished from Lund Explorers, limited of course to boats that were green, with Mercury four stroke motors, and of course only used Lowrance electronics. I don't see any reason to ignore those poor misinformed fisherman that uses Shimano reels in favor of the Abu's I have. And just because I happen to like Power Worms doesn't diminish the guy (or gal for that matter) that wastes their time throwing senkos.... Gasp! So thanks Guys & Gal, you've opened the door to this little world to all of us with only a few simple rules. No politics, no religion, and most importantly that we respect each other's viewpoints whether they mesh with ours or not. It is an incredible feat to bring together so many diverse personalities with such varied experiences and can still keep these threads so civil. Because regardless of what fishing knowledge a person could gather here, perhaps the best lesson we can all learn is that no person is somehow better than any other on these pages.

My favorite came in July of 1980. I was fishing in a small buddy tournament on Chippewa Lake here in Michigan, it weighed in @ 6.56lbs and took big bass honors for the day. It wasn't just the size though that made it so special, as there were several story lines tied to it. I caught this fish a little after noon on that day in a perfect little deep water spot. There is a fairly steep drop off that ran along the shoreline that suddenly makes a 90* turn into the middle of the lake. This inside turn which bottoms out about 20' deep is a neat little place that I've caught a number of big fish from. A half-hour after putting this one in the box, we were fishing along this drop off when we came up on the club's president. His batteries were dead and wanted to know if we could tow him in. As there was about an hour of fishing left, we told him to hang on to the side of the boat and we'd drag him along with us. So he Prez asks us how we're doing, and my partner tells him that we only had six fish, but he had a really nice 18" fish. The Prez lamented about how bad their day had been, and said he was impressed on how good we were doing. Hey, I never said anything and just kept on fishing. Well, we get to the weigh in and people are bringing their fish into to be weighed. Every time someone would ask if they should weigh a Big Bass, the Prez would mention my partners fish, and they'd just pass. Then another friend of mine came to the scales and not only weighed in a healthy sack but had a nice fish that was bigger than my partners. Once they were done, he came over next to me and poked me in the ribs a few times repeating the "Don't ya wish you had a fish that big?". I told that of course I would love to as it would add to our sack. Then it was our turn. As I returned to the scales, the snickering stopped and was replaced by a few select comments. But to this day, I swear that I didn't lie..... I just didn't brag! : Oops, I forgot to mention that this bass was caught on a 4" Sassy Shad and a 3/8oz jighead. Imagine that, a swimbait 20 years ago.

I know how you feel Mitch, as I've been in that same spot. I fished tournaments for many years until a life long friend and fishing partner got sick. During the time that he was going through the slow process of losing his battle with that illness, it would almost feel like I was cheating if I went out fishing without him. But I have found a few things that are bringing me back. The good news for you is that you're here looking for that spark again to restart your fire. Most likely it means that a few small sparks have already been struck. There's a good chance your interest will continue to grow. Maybe not to where it may have been before, but there are many levels of enjoyment. My advice is to take it slowly, maybe set a few modest goals, and just find that enjoyment as you can. In my case, I've gotten back into the game by targeting of all things a 12" bluegill. Kind of funny for an old bassoholic, but it was a start for my return. I most likely will never return to tournament fishing, but I'm sure I'll find my spot. You will too. Good Luck!

Anybody see that BPS has a sale on the Revo Skeet Reese? $100 off the normal $279 sticker price. Not sure if this is a deal or not. Does anyone have one of these?

I'm looking forward to seeing it, in some ways. Still thinking of how Capt Phil passing away is going to change some things.

Boy, there just aint nothing better than worm dirt under your fingernails while I'm filleting a bunch of big ol'bass for dinner. Now where's those Senko Threads?

That is were I'd look first.

Can I add to the confusion? Glenn has the BR Calculator. WRB has L x L x G / 1200 = Weight. Mine? From an old formula in In-Fishermen L x L x L / 1600 = Weight. The simple fact is like WRB said, you want accuracy you use a certified scale. Every other method will be fairly accurate within a certain size range and then begin to vary outside of that range. For comparison, my calculation says your 24" bass would weigh in at 8.64lbs or 8lb 10oz.

My boat, even though it didn't start that way. I signed up and was going to use the handle Bass_Ackwards until the very next day someone else posted who already used almost the exact same name. The difference between a dash -vs- an underscore was too close and would have led to confusion. So I changed it.

Pssst, they're a sponsor. http://www.pondboss.com/

Yup, here in Michigan even the violators agree that there are two distinct seasons for bass......... Salt & Pepper!

Thank Guys! I was thinking in that range and you've sort of confimred it for me. I spent quite a bit of time looking on line without much luck. Saturday I'm headed over to a gun dealer to see what his books have to say.

Because Detroit needs an OT to protect their expensive new QB...but heck, what am I thinking, their front office makes about as much sense as t%ts on a bull. Detroit will trade down if they get the chance. Detroit News quoted back office types saying that they were looking for bargains this year. Suh might be too expensive for this bunch of tightwads. >